New to paintball

have they ever played before?

field rules on age? (a lot of fields have minimum ages)

are they mature enough?

My reccomendation is to get them playing a few times first. If they have played before, then they are old enough to own one in my opinion.

any questions on the sport?

Welcome to the forum.

Boy, that is awfully young.  Most fields have age limits of 12 or so, and for good reason.

While the chance of injury is extremely low under normal circumstances, the chance of injury skyrockets with irresponsible play. 

The central safety precaution of paintball is the face mask.  This mask is kept on AT ALL TIMES, and it can frankly get quite uncomfortable.  Even experienced players feel the need to take the mask off once in a while.

Without a mask on, there is a very significant risk of very serious eye injury - blindness is a possibility.  In normal play, the muzzle velocity is almost 200 mph.

So the threshold question is whether you believe your children can follow that rule - keeping the mask on - no matter how hot and sweaty, no matter how fogged up, and no matter how many mosquitoes crawl up inside.  If so, then there is really no particular safety concern.

There is also a simple matter of pain - getting shot with a paintball is by no means comfortable.  But here of course the only risk is that the kids will hate it.

In addition, keep in mind that paintball guns are frequently used by kids for other, inappropriate purposes.  It is a favorite for vandals, for instance.  I would strongly recommend against allowing your children unrestricted access to the guns - for many purposes they are functionally similar to firearms.

Many of these matters can be controlled if the only play will be with you and each other - you might turn the velocities down, significantly, and add additional safety precautions.  If the kids will be playing in regular games, however, all concerns apply in full.

I have played with some 10-year-olds, and some did fine, some did not.  I have never played with anybody younger than that.  I would be very concerned about involving a 6-year-old in this game.

But, of course, these are ultimately your children.

As said above, if you think they are mature enough, and they will ALWAYS follow the rules, and they dont mind a little pain, go for it.

Definantly do not allow your kids access to all the equipment. it may be fine to allow them to keep their markers, but make sure you keep all the Co2 tanks in a safe place. and PLEASE make sure your kids dont try doing something like shooting marbles or metal spheres.

again to echo the above, play a game or two before you buy an even moderatly expensive marker. go to somewhere that you can borrow or rent a marker. if you cant, buy a really cheap marker at first so they can get used to it and see if they like the game before actually commiting to buying a good marker

one thing I just thought about might be a matter of finding a mask for your children to wear. your younger child, being only 6, are rather small and most paintball masks will be to large, or will require a little modification to fit snuggly on your child's face.

again, play once or twice before buying an expensive gun. maybe ask to borrow the equipment of a friend, or the friends of your children. it would be a shame to buy a couple 140$ guns and a couple masks and Co2 tanks if they only get used once and then your kids decide they dont like the sport of paintball.

If your kids are playing paintball with their friends, I would suggest not letting your six year old play paintball. Although its mean, its not that great to let him play paintball with his friends at six, and even nine is pushing it. I play paintball with different groups of people, some are mature and accually play paintball, some probably make your nine year old look like he is your age. It all depends on who they are playing with.

If I had to choose, I would say buy three guns. One for those two, and you.

There are alot of father/son groups playing paintball. I got my father into paintball (Kind of ironic the way I got him to, one day I was getting my tank filled and he saw a marker he wanted and eventually he started playing). Playing paintball with your sons would be a great thing. It teaches them responsibility, if their friends are immature you know they are not going to pull anything, and you know your kids will be safe. And with paintballs hurting, they really do not unless at close range, in the neck, in the hand, or you-know-where. Ive been shot at point blank (Like I said, some people cant play paintball) with un-chronoed guns and it has stung like crazy. As long as your kids are wearing their mask AT ALL TIMES they will be fine. But since they are young I would suggest gloves (Any should do) and a neck protector, as well as a sweatshirt or jacket. As for markers I would suggest a Tippmann/Triumph XL, Brass Eagle, or lower end spyder since they are so young. Some examples would be: Edit: three of the URL's  are edited by the Tippmann forum because they are from Dic.ks sporting goods, so the last three you will have to change the **edited** to what it is supposed to be.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4532540

http://www.**edited**ssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?pr oductI d=2504063&cp=2367824.2295234.2295235&view=all&pa rentPage=family&searchId=19075073242

http://www.**edited**ssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?pr oductI d=1450112&cp=2367824.2295234.2295235&view=all&pa rentPage=family&searchId=19075259092

http://www.**edited**ssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?pr oductI d=2052102&cp=2367824.2295234.2295235&view=all&pa rentPage=family&searchId=19075126742

And with the markers, keep the paint/CO2 away from them. Let them have the markers, because if you take the marker itself away from them, they will want it even more.

If you have any questions PM me.

I just wish I can get my wife to play just one game.

and If you do let them play, make sure that when they hear 'Im out!!" that they should stop shooting at that person.